(VOVworld) – In celebration of National Day, all staff members of Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) are jubilantly welcoming the station’s 68^th anniversary on September 7^th.  VOV has developed consistently to be worth of the voice of Vietnam’s government.

From an old French building, VOV’s headquarters at 58 Quan Su street in Hanoi has been rebuilt into a modern station. It was here 68 years ago that VOV broadcast its first radio program to Vietnamese people nationwide and friends around the world.

VOV's headquarters at 58 Quan Su street in Hanoi

VOV has always fulfilled its task of disseminating party guidelines and state policies. At the very beginning, the purpose of VOV’s programs was just to encourage the people as the country still remained at war. Today, its programs target a varied audience of all ages and social strata. Nguyen Thong of Yen Dung district in the northern province of Bac Giang has been listening to VOV since the 1960s. He said listening to radio has become his habit and VOV is an up-to-date and reliable source of information: “I consider VOV a close friend amid the booming communication era. I often carry along a small radio in my pocket when I work in the forest. Now I can listen to the radio via my cell phone. VOV programs are very listener friendly.”

Operating across 4 formats: radio, TV, print and online, VOV offers listeners an alternate access to information sources. The establishment of VOV’s TV channel, traffic information channel, online newspaper and the website of the Overseas Service has demonstrated the organization’s steady development over the years. Most recently, VOV has become the sole broadcaster of the official matches of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Confederation Cup over the next 3 seasons, in both Vietnamese and English. Taxi driver Nguyen Anh Duy says: “I really like this program as I can get the updated score while driving the streets. The commentary is good. I enjoy listening to it.”

This commemoration also marks the 68^th anniversary of many programs from the Overseas Service. Together with the development of VOV, the Overseas Service has progressed considerably and its programs are now broadcast in 12 languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese for the overseas Vietnamese. Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said: “We now can listen to VOV’s high-quality programs wherever we are. We appreciate the concerted efforts of VOV’s editorial departments, particularly the Overseas Service, which has served as an effective channel to promote Vietnam’s cultural identity to international friends in many foreign languages.”

The Overseas Services receives approximately 10,000 letters from listeners in 73 countries and territories around the world every year. Its website vovworld.vn gives foreign listeners greater access to information about Vietnam. Around 10,000 people from 153 countries log onto this website everyday. Seiichi Kuriki, Director of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, NHK, is a loyal listener to VOV: “Your program content has been diversified to cover all aspects of life. I listen to the Voice of Vietnam everyday via the Internet and smart phone. I’m amazed at the diversity of the news from Vietnam that VOV provides to its listeners.”